Returned migrants on horseback in Texas: a report questions the manner, not the method

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers prevent migrants from reaching the U.S. side of the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, in Del Rio, Texas, Sunday, September 19, 2021. AP - Felix Marquez

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1 min

The images had gone around the world: last year, near Del Rio, on the border between Texas and Mexico, American agents of the border police had chased, on horseback, Haitian migrants trying to enter the United States.

An official investigation report of more than 500 pages was finally made public on Friday July 8. 

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At least four officers will face unspecified disciplinary action.

Concretely, what this report says is that these agents acted “ 

 ”.

One of the police officers is notably singled out for “ 

 ”, “ 

 ” comments concerning the Haitian origin of these migrants, and for a maneuver of his horse, described as dangerous, near a child.

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Faced with the emotion aroused at the time in the United States and around the world, President Joe Biden had promised consequences for the police officers involved.

Since then, the investigation has been criticized for its slowness.

She could not prove that the border guards had hit migrants with their reins and is content to point out the lack of training and coordination of these mounted units deployed at the border. 

These were suspended in Del Rio, but are in use elsewhere in Texas.

These conclusions are published when the Republican governor of this state, Greg Abbott, authorized Thursday, July 7 by decree the police to escort to the border the migrants who would have crossed it illegally.

A power normally reserved for the US federal state. 

The investigation into the Del Rio Horse Patrol Unit incident includes findings in these categories:

▪️ command, control, and communications at the scene

▪️ use of Horse Patrol Units

▪️ individual actions of certain agents

Read here ⬇️ https://t.co/kIEc3Xx5Ya

— CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus (@CBPChrisMagnus) July 8, 2022

► To read also: In the United States, Texas is testing the limits with the federal state on immigration

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